Puea Thai looks for votes in military-strong Sattahip

With its large military population, Sattahip has never been fertile ground for any “red shirt”-affiliated political party. But with the July 3 election just weeks away, Puea Thai Party candidates put on their best face in a push through the Royal Thai Naval Base area.

Adm. Surapol Chandang, Puea Thai’s Zone 8 candidate, in fact, drew a good-sized crowd June 8 as he introduced himself to residents of Najomtien on the outskirts of Pattaya.

The admiral pledged he would never buy votes and explained that doing so is a toxic policy for Puea Thai, which was created after two previous iterations were disbanded by courts for illegal vote buying.

He said people should vote for him and Puea Thai if they are dissatisfied with the current Democratic Party-led government and want change. He also warned people to carefully consider votes to candidates from small parties, as their policies may not be viable because small parties cannot have power unless they align with larger ones.

This article was published in the Pattaya Mail newspaper on Friday June 17, 2011 (Vol. XIX No. 24).